Cover

How can I ever repay you?

By Bob Smietana
College graduates today often find that they leave campus with major debt and minor job prospects. But Catholic schools are trying to give students more to look forward to than a lifetime of loan payments.

Web-only sidebar:

Does student debt deter religious vocations?

Photo essay

Get lost in space

By Brother Guy Consolmagno, S.J.
Across the universe, God has dotted the intergalactic landscape with some heavenly images. Gazing at those stars can be a source of divine inspiration.

Expert witness

Putting schools to the test

An interview with journalist John Merrow
We can’t give our education system a pass when it fails our children, says this veteran journalist, who offers a report card that shows where schools get high marks and which areas need improvement.

Sounding Board

It’s time to separate church and state marriages

By Bryan Cones

As the legal definition of marriage changes, the church should divorce itself from performing civil weddings and stick to the sacramental kind. In Feedback, readers debate the merits of a trial separation of the two institutions.

Essays

(Essays, short stories, and poems may not be available online.)

Essay: Visitation day

By Brian Doyle
When prospective students walk the grounds of a Catholic campus, there’s one special Lady they all stop to see.

Essay: A hundred empty beds

by Jerid Miller
It’s one thing to talk about helping a homeless man, but would you invite him to sleep in your family’s guest room?

Wise Guides: Pioneer pastor

By Vanessa White
Augustus Tolton broke the color barrier for Catholic priests in America—whether the rest of the church was ready for it or not.

Departments

Editors’ Note

You May Be Right (Letters to the Editor)

Signs of the Times (News)

Catholic Tastes (Humor)

Culture in Context: Music, film, and book reviews

At Home with Our Faith (Family spirituality)

Eye of the Beholder (Art meditation)

Glad You Asked: What is the relationship between the Old and New Testaments?

Columns

The Examined Life: The sick call
By Bryan Cones

Margin Notes: Bee forewarned
By Kevin Clarke

Culture in Context: American horror story
By Danny Duncan Collum

Testaments: The choice is yours
By Alice Camille